Do You Have Your Special Needs Trust Set Up Yet?

Do You Have Your Special Needs Trust Set Up Yet?

What? No you say? Well then, this blog post is not only timely, but necessary!

A friend of mind was injured on a camping trip this past weekend. Fortunately, he was there with some friends and family, so when he injured himself and fell to the ground, there were others there who were able to go after his daughter with autism, who was running away from the campfire! He made a comment that I hear far too often in my line of work. He said that his situation brought home the reality that he will not always be able to single-handedly care for his daughter, and he felt he had not appropriately planned?

I hated to hear that he had such an incident, yet I was relieved that he was realizing how important it is to plan for our special needs kids. There will come a day when we are no longer here or able to care for them, and the more planning we do in advance of that date, the better.

Most individuals in the U.S. do not realize that if someone with special needs has greater than $2,000 in assets, which is not much, it can affect their access to government funded assistance. So, as an example, a well meaning aunt can leave $2,500 in her will to a special needs child, and if that is not run through their special needs trust, that seemingly small donation can cut off access to medicaid/medicare and other long-term government assistance plans for those with disabilities later in life.

The best suggestion I can make is to talk to MetDESK - they are a division of MET Life that handles special needs trusts and they do the consults for FREE. Here's the website where you can get more information and schedule an appointment to talk to someone highly skilled in the laws regarding these trusts:

http://www.metlife.com/individual/investment-products/financial-planning/special-needs-planning.html#overview

There are also attorneys out there who do special needs trusts, but I have met more of them that don't understand the details than those who do. My suggestion to everyone is to educate yourself on the law and the facts, so you do not have to be 100% reliant on someone else. What if they are wrong? That's not something you want to find out about too late! There's some great information on this page explaining the trust and how it effects benefits, etc.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supplemental_Needs_Trust

Definitely do your homework and talk to MetDESK, just to make sure you have your facts straight. They can help you to determine where to go from there and what the needs are in your specific case.

Hope you find this helpful!

Laura :)